As the use of air conditioners and other environmental control devices becomes commonplace, image forming apparatuses such as copying machines or printers are increasingly being installed in air-conditioned rooms in offices and homes.
However, in the past, the image forming apparatus and the air conditioner did not operate in a linked fashion, and worked independently from each other. Consequently, the problem arises that, due to the internal heat generated when the image forming apparatus operates, if the image forming apparatus is used over a long period of time, the generated heat can affect the ambient temperature and humidity in the room, because the air conditioner does not adjust the temperature and humidity in the room in accordance with the operation status of the image forming apparatus. The air conditioner is only capable of adjusting the ambient temperature and humidity by detecting such parameters using its own sensors. Therefore, optimal adjustment of the ambient temperature and humidity in the room in accordance with the operation status of the image forming apparatus has not been achieved previously.
In addition, an image forming apparatus generally has a moisture eliminating function to eliminate the moisture contained in the transfer medium (paper) in the paper supply trays, a condensation preventing function to prevent the formation of condensation on the lenses and mirrors of the systems that read or write image information, and a cooling function to cool down the heat-generating components such as motors and lamps as well as the interior of the apparatus, in order to adjust the temperature and moisture content inside the apparatus. For example, with regard to the cooling function, the image forming apparatus generally uses feed forward control to drive a cooling fan at all times during image formation.
However, the operation mode for each of these functions of a conventional image forming apparatus is fixed at all times, regardless of the temperature or humidity in the room. For example, with regard to the cooling function, the cooling capacity is set such that the temperature of the components of the image forming apparatus is maintained at or below a level that does not pose a problem in regard to safety standards or mechanical functions even when the ambient temperature is at the highest end of the range within which the image forming apparatus can be used, and the operation mode is set such that the cooling function is in operation at all times during the operation of the image forming apparatus. Consequently, where the ambient temperature is around 25° C., which is a common room temperature, the cooling means continues to provide excessive cooling, resulting in the problems of increased power consumption and noise. These problems are not limited to the cooling function, but also occur with regard to the moisture eliminating and condensation preventing functions.
The present invention was created in view of these problems, and seeks to provide optimal adjustment of the ambient temperature and/or humidity using an air conditioner by having the image forming apparatus operate in coordination with the air conditioner when the image forming apparatus will have a negative impact on the ambient temperature and humidity, and conversely, to achieve power conservation and less noise by adjusting the temperature and moisture content inside the image forming apparatus in accordance with the ambient temperature and humidity detected by the air conditioner, as well as to provide an image forming apparatus that realizes this object.